Sunday, April 15, 2007

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters

Based on the reviews I've read and my experience with the show, I was expecting to spend the afternoon munching popcorn and watching an incoherent stream of consciousness. The majority of reviewers write off the plot as being incomprehensible.

I write them off as not fucking paying attention.

It's truly amazing what they pulled off. The movie as a whole fits right in with the Aqua Teen universe. In particular, the pacing wasn't altered to try and make it feel like a "real" movie. No precious time is wasted trying to bring the non-fans in the audience up to speed on the premise. They didn't take a 15-minute story and buffer it up to feature length. It's exactly like watching an episode of the show, only instead of cutting the story short at the quarter of an hour mark, they just keep on going.

It's marvelous.

As for the story -- what's not to get? The Aqua Teens set off on a quest to assemble an exercise machine, only to discover that it transforms into a giant death machine when it's turned on. They have to figure out a way to stop it before it destroys New Jersey, and they don't necessarily solve the mystery of their origins along the way. This is easily the most coherent and cohesive story that the Aqua Teens have ever been involved in. And there's plenty of time for extended gags that center around Master Shake explaining the birds and the bees to Meatwad or the Mooninites stealing furniture.

And they've pulled off another clever trick -- the movie feels epic without ever really going for that over the top "HEY! LOOK WHAT WE'RE DOING THAT WE COULDN'T DO ON TV!" feeling that a lot of TV show movies go for. The fates of several of the best recurring characters from the show intertwine as the story progresses. And they break one of the most cardinal unspoken rules of the show: Doctor Weird becomes a front and center fixture in the plot, which leads him to a direct confrontation with the Aqua Teens.

The revelations about the show's mythology are introduced and denied with gleeful abandon. Were the Aqua Teens created by Doctor Weird himself, or was it the other way around? Was there ever a fourth Aqua Teen called Chicken Bittle? Was this all really the fault of a sentient watermellon slice and a nine-layer burrito? The movie raises more questions than it answers, then laughs at you for caring in the first place.

It may not be a wall-to-wall laugh riot, but it's definately 87 minutes of solid entertainment, complete with a song about how pathetic the creators imagine their audience to be and a minor easter egg after the credits. It's everything that an Aqua Teen movie possibly could be. If you thought you wanted to see it, chances are you're right.